Cory Maye: off death row, but still fighting for justice.

AuthorBalko, Radley
PositionFollow-Up

In our October 2006 issue, reason published the story of Cory Maye, a Mississippi man sentenced to death for killing a police officer who broke into his home during a drug raid. Thanks in part to the national attention drawn to the case by reason's coverage, there is much to report about the status of Maye's appeal.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

In 2007 a private investigator working for Maye's new legal team, which includes Jefferson Davis Country Public Defender Bob Evans and lawyers from the Washington, D.C., firm Covington & Burling, identified the confidential informant in Maye's case, an illiterate drug addict named Randy Gentry. In a message left on Evans' answering machine, Gentry, repeatedly described by local police as "trustworthy" and "reliable," launched into a racist diatribe against Maye, Evans, and black people in general.

After a September 2006 post-trial hearing, Marion County Circuit Court Judge Michael Eubanks upheld Maye's conviction but threw out his death sentence, determining that Maye's trial attorney, Rhonda Cooper, was competent during the guilt phase of his trial but incompetent during the penalty phase. Eubanks ruled against all of the remaining defense claims, including concerns about Gentry, discrepancies in police testimony, the venue for the trial, and problems with controlling precedent in the state regarding home defense.

In March 2008, newly elected 15th District...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT